WiDESHOT (Original Series)
''WiDESHOT ''(WiDESHOT -ワイドショット-) is a manga by R with an anime TV series adaptation. Its main character Sergio Swift is a placid and calculated adolescent who aspires to save the world from Yesterday Man, a tyrant who seeks to eradicate the human race by transforming all of humanity into Sisalik. The manga was first published in 2019 in a secret, unreleased issue of Japan's Shōnen Jump ''magazine. VIZ Media publishes a translated version in the American ''Shonen Jump, and is currently within a few volumes of the Japanese publication. WiDESHOT was VIZ Media's best-selling manga series since throughout its entire run, being replaced by WiDESHOT MEGA, ''its successor. WiDESHOT Manga The ''WiDESHOT manga has ended with 25 volumes and 100 chapters. In 2018, R created the first published incarnation of the WiDESHOT series with the one-shot KASKADE. Though the plot of the one-shot bears little significance to the later shōnen manga, many of the same characters and themes would be displayed for the first time. Plot Overview Prologue Sergio Swift, a 20 year old young man wakes up to his village being ransacked by a group of Sisalik. Unable to pack any supplies, he runs away — as his family has already been killed. Many people try to escape with Sergio, but he outruns them all. They fall to the lizard men, and Sergio continues forward. After navigating the wilderness, he finds a hidden base that belongs to Professor Armitus, the village’s rumored maniac. Sergio has a lot of questions for the professor, all of which he answers. The lizard men all used to be ordinary humans, but they’ve all been turned into reptiles by a mysterious man that the Professor calls Yesterday Man. The Professor figured out that Yesterday Man did this by somehow altering everyone’s Zeal Signatures into a new Zeal Signature that transforms them into lizard men. Not knowing about any of this, Sergio asks the Professor if he has a Zeal Signature, to which the Professor replies, “oh, it’s nothing special.” Sergio enters a machine that reads his Zeal Signature, and learns that he has one that enables him to run at amazing speeds. Having always been the fastest in the village, this makes sense to him. Still, in an effort to avenge his destroyed village, Sergio asks the Professor to train him in the art of Zeal. The Professor declines, stating that zeal is not something that can be trained, only discovered. The Professor suggests going out and fighting lizard men in order to learn how to use his Zeal Signature, which he now calls Brilliant Speed. Sergio ventures into the wild lands to fight lizard men. Through reconnaissance, he learns that they are actually part of the Sisalik Troop. Sergio’s first encounter with a Sisalik results in him having to flee the scene. After thinking up of a plan, he defeats one. Then a group of them. Soon enough, Sergio is an expert at defeating the Sisalik. On his way back to the Professor, he sees a Sisalik jobber, who is walking along the path. The Sisalik tells Sergio that he knows what he’s doing, and that he supports it. He relays his sorrows and woes to Sergio, as, he has been turned into a Sisalik by Yesterday Man. Each of the Sisalik have depersonalized names, and his is B2DY. Touched by the story, Sergio decides to call him “Buddy,” and bring him back to the lab. When they get there, the Professor asks to talk to Buddy, alone. The Professor tells Sergio to come in to the lab when he’s finished, and upon entering, Sergio finds Buddy chained to a wall by complicated technology. The Professor now looks evil, and reveals his greatest creation, FUCHSIA 000 — an automaton created to replicate the power of Brilliant Speed. FUCHSIA was created using 6 of the 13 granulated crystals as its core. It does not use Zeal, but rather, Pseudozeal — a synthetic, artificial Zeal invented by the Professor. FUCHSIA breaks free from the wall, and attacks Sergio. The robot is flimsy and clumsy at first, but over the course of the fight, it learns how to copy Brilliant Speed. Sergio decides to spare FUCHSIA and set him free, stating that it has no reason to be killed, as it didn’t choose to be created. The Professor begins ranting about his greatness, but Sergio punches him in the stomach, and frees Buddy, who kills the Professor. Prison Arc While traveling to the Capitol, Sergio and Buddy notice an increasing amount of Sisalik, leading Buddy to disguise himself. They get to the capital, and see a child trying to convince a crowd that he can perform magic. They brush him off, and even laugh at him a little. Soon after, Sergio and Buddy discover that the young boy's name is Archibald Andrew Armitus. A group of Sisalik arrive, threatening to kill Archibald just for being in the wrong place, but after realizing that the boy is trying to perform magic, decide instead to take him to prison. Sergio and Buddy, surveying Archibald's helplessness, defend the young magician; however, Sergio, not having mastered his powers yet, is overpowered by the Sisalik group. Sergio and Buddy, moved by the young boy's determination to learn the forbidden arts of magic, decide to infiltrate the prison and save Archibald. They go into the prison and, after searching every cell and freeing every prisoner, find Archibald in solitary confinement along with a strange man in a knight's helmet as his cell mate. Archibald, relieved that these two brief acquaintances came to rescue him, escapes with Sergio and Buddy. Freeing the prisoners, however, instigates a riot and a brawl ensues. Sergio capitalizes on the opportunity to test out his powers, defeating hordes of prisoners at immense velocities. Archibald, Sergio and Buddy, make a clean escape, getting to know each other on the tail end. After escaping the prison, Sergio, Buddy, and Archibald become friends, and Sergio decides to start calling Archibald, "Triple A" as a show of his affection as friends. Sergio, Buddy, and Triple A, having formed a three-man squad, decide to follow the prisoner who did not involve himself in the prison brawl, who also happens to be the man sharing the prison cell with Triple A, in solitary confinement. Intrigued by the prisoner's background as a solitary confinement victim, the three heroes track the man down, searching for insights on why he was confined alongside Triple A. Having learned that The Harbinger has been freed from his solitary confinement, Yesterday Man sends his top Sisalik — an elite group known as The Progenitors — to hunt down The Harbinger. Sergio and Buddy meet with The Salamander first, narrowly defeating him. Triple A, refusing to fight, watches Sergio and Buddy's teamwork, feeling inspired, wishing he could help in some meaningful, deliberate way. After having defeated The Salamander, Sergio and Buddy gain confidence in their abilities. Due to the forest being burned down, the two boys stumble upon The Harbinger's lair. The Harbinger does not tolerate intruders. When they get there, The Harbinger sends his guard dog, Romulus, to fend them off. Using his Zeal Signature, Fall of Rome, Romulus traps Sergio and Buddy in a Colosseum so he can dispatch who he believes to be the weakest of the three fighters, Triple A. Forced to fight each other, Sergio and Buddy resolve to duel in an effort to free themselves from Romulus' Fall of Rome. Outside of the Colosseum, Triple A is forced to fight Romulus, who is now just a really big dog. Here is where Triple A cultivates his Zeal Signature, Compacted Light, which he believes to be "magic." After a brief skirmish with Romulus, Triple A discovers the hidden weakness of Fall of Rome, freeing his comrades. Upon being freed, it is evident that Sergio defeated Buddy in the Colosseum. Buddy is out of commission. The Progenitors arrive and kill Romulus. The Rectifier fights Triple A; Sergio fights The Prodigy. They emerge victorious. During this time, Buddy reflects on his status as a Sisalik and laments the fact that he cannot be human like Sergio and Triple A. The Harbinger, impressed by the boys' feat, decides to give them the honor of being finished off by his own hand. Sergio volunteers to fight. Just before finishing Sergio off, The Harbinger notices a dormant glint in the young man's soul — indicating his vast latent potential. With this dormant power in mind, The Harbinger resolves to spare Sergio, believing that the latter could become a powerful adversary one day — powerful enough to perhaps defeat Yesterday Man. Instead, he decides to banish them from his cave — they abide out of sheer fear alone. Secret Society Arc The boys arrive in the Secret Zeal Society, a village of humans dedicated to mastering the Art of Zeal. The village's elder, Farren Height, boasts of the village's prized possession, a granulated crystal. He then promises to train the three boys in the Art of Zeal on the condition that the heroes subdue the Sisalik marauders. The boys are taught Zeal, they learn Zeal, and are put through the trials: Finally, Farren Height sends the boys on a mission to demonstrate the fruits of their labor; however, deducing that Triple A is the weakest of the crew, Farren Height forces the young wizard to stay behind, sending him to the Chamber of Secrecy instead to meditate. FUCHSIA 002 arrives and massacres the whole town, eventually running into the elder who makes a futile attempt to stop the diabolical robot. With Farren Height's measures failing, FUCHSIA 002 acquires the Granulated Crystal — becoming FUCHSIA 003. Triple A, having his meditation disrupted, emerges from the chamber, witnessing the ruination of the Secret Zeal Society. Simultaneously, the Harbinger investigates the scene. All at once, the three encounter each other. ----------------------------------------------- Remembering King Kaskade, Yesterday Man punches a hole through Buddy's solar plexus in order to turn him into a Sisalik Prime — though Buddy is unable to retain his humanity as Kaskade did. Characters Sergio Swift Professor Armitus Buddy Yesterday Man The Harbinger The Prodigy Triple A Fuchsia GARTHOKULHAULPS Gordaulhaulps Bird Marrone D'jinn Hometown Grill Zeal signature: Historic Flame, Species: Human from the planet "Home" Vincent Stronghold Veidrik Fish Fry Yami Joyride; an automolizard Blackford White/ Whiteford Black T'ornn Henrik Magdalini Forget Me Not Mistah Smile Double Feature Quantum Bombastic References External Links